Vasily Aksyonov received Russia's top literary prize Thursday at a lavish ceremony at Moscow's Golden Ring Hotel.

The Open Russia Booker Prize, which is awarded for the best Russian novel of the year, went to Aksyonov for his "Voltairiens and Voltairiennes" (Volteryantsy i Volteryanki), a historical narrative about 18th-century Russia laced with hints and prophecies about political life today. The decision did not come as a surprise to most critics and readers, for whom Aksyonov is already a part of literary history.

The Booker prize has been plagued by troubles ever since original British sponsor Booker PLC brought it over to Russia. These troubles were mostly of a financial nature, since every time a new sponsor took up the prize, economic disaster struck. The most recent stage in the history of the Booker curse is perhaps its most telling: After a string of short-lived sponsors, the prize was taken over by Open Russia, an organization financed by Yukos owner Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Now Khodorkovsky is in jail, Yukos sidelined, and the Booker prize in financial jeopardy again. It is not clear whether the $15,000 prize will actually be paid to this year's winner.

Officially, the prize is given for the year's best novel, but the definition of "novel" has been notoriously subject to change. Last year's award went to Ruben David Gonzales Gallego for his "White on Black" (Beloye na Chyornom), more a collection of short stories than a proper novel. Controversy also centered on the charge that the prize was given to the severely disabled Gallego out of political correctness rather than for literary merit. Critics, however, dismissed such accusations, stressing the exceptional value of Gallego's book.

Though controversies like these pop up from time to time, many see the Booker prize as rather conservative: a lifetime achievement award for writers who already have long, successful careers behind them. In that respect, it differs from the Andrei Bely Prize, which favors bold innovation; the Apollon Grigoriev Prize, which reflects the refined choice of critics; and the Debut Prize, which is given to beginning writers. At the other end of the scale, the National Bestseller Prize is awarded to highly popular, sometimes scandalous books -- works that the respectable Booker jury would never support.

This year's selection of an established writer and traditional novel reconfirmed the mainstream philosophy of the Booker prize, which is arguably still the most influential award in Russia's literary life.